Two-Wheeled Tractors Continued: The Agria 6000

A couple of years ago I posted about a little Holder H7, which was turning out really handy for small jobs around the garden and orchard, and even harvesting. But I always wanted to get an Agria, a brand so synonymous with two-wheeled tractors here, they are often just called an Agria (like vacuum cleaners being called hoovers). That happened last year. I found an Agria 6000, Germany’s favourite Agria model, on eBay and it looked well-restored. We agreed what I considered a fair price. At the time.

It’s a lovely machine. Based on the motor, it was probably built in the 60s, though they were building the 6000 well into the 70s, but with ILO motors. It has a 2-stroke, 150cc 6.5 HP (4.8kW) motor, and three forward gears. Sadly no reverse on this particular one.

The trailer was definitely well-restored, with totally new panels replacing the wood. It kind of lacks character, perhaps, compared to the original designs, but it’s practical and will last long.

And while the man started it before I bought it, it was only once I started using it that I realised something wasn’t quite right. On pulling the started, it was firing too early, causing kickback that nearly pulled your arm out of the socket. Quite painful. It was noisy, running irregularly, and we couldn’t get it to idle nicely.

Turns out the chap had probably disassembled it, and didn’t set the flywheel correctly. It took a bit of work (including making a small replacement part ourselves, to replace a sheered wedge on the drive shaft), and lots of trials, till at least that aspect was solved.

It was also leaking a lot of oil out the exhaust port, but that was easy to fix by simply tightening the exhaust. But the motor was also quite oily, and compression wasn’t the best, so replacement gaskets solved that too. I was beginning to wonder if the guy’s “restoration” was simply new paint”.

But it still wasn’t running great. I had taken the carburettor apart several times, and knew it was clean. It didn’t like starting with ease, and after 15 minutes driving, it would sometime stall out. It took a fair bit of research (and reading the smallest details stamped on the parts themselves) to find out that the carburettor was fitted with the wrong idling jet for this model of motor. I managed to find a replacement jet, and suddenly it was purring. Nice idling, not stalling after a long downhill run. Just grand, apart from being very smoky for the first 5 minutes of use.

Never leave home without a sparkplug spanner

It’s a pretty good workhorse, and you can get lots of accessories for it, like single share plough, a tiller, a snow plough and a beam mower. The latter became a topic of interest this year, as the sheep that had been keeping the orchard grass in check till now have moved on to newer pastures, meaning mowing became a bit more urgent for us. I had restored a monster beam mower a couple of years ago (also pictured in that Holder H7 post above), and thought I could use that, but the clutch went, and replacing it was simply not economical. But I had another for the Holder H7, and gave that a try. But it was dismal, and quite strenuous to use. So, I have decided I don’t want a beam mower for the Agria, though occasional use could be handy in some situations.

After weeks researching various kinds and makes of mower, and learning more about hydrostatic drives than I probably needed, I finally ordered a new workhorse, which I hope will be here tomorrow. This could be an ode to the Agria, but I think it'll definitely be out for the harvest, and some fun.